Flyin'Dutch' is correct that your doctor shuld be your first port of call but after a while they run out of ideas.
Your family GP, however well-meaning, will look in your ears to check for infection, damage to the drum etc. then suggest decongestants, steam inhalation, anti-inflammatories etc....perhaps antibiotics if he or she think there is an infection. They will also suggest allergy testing etc. but that's about it. "Sorry we can't help you, but if I think of anything I will give you a call." That's what I got.
They may send you to an ENT specialist who will go a bit further but if your ear trouble is a symptom of something else going on, in my experience they won't have the first idea how to treat you. Sorry if that sounds disrespectful to the medical fraternity (and I am sure I will get a response from somebody) but that is the way it is. I wasted months trying all kinds of nasal sprays, surgery etc. I saw several ENT specialists and while it was clear that they were all very highly skilled and knew a great deal about their subject; they all hit a brick wall when it came to treating my ear problem.
I did some reading about the other reasons why you may have trouble with your ears and I uncovered a whole host of additional analysis and treatment options they hadn't told me about. I even mentioned to one ENT guy that I had a sore wisdom tooth and asked if that might be causing it (it was on the same side)......"There is no link whatsoever between your wisdom teeth and your ear trouble" sic. I had it removed anyway and the problem began to clear up. Co-incidence? Of course it could be. I started receiving treatment for poor posture and a sore jaw around the same time so it might be that, but the long term discomfort from the tooth was causing me to grind in my sleep which in turn was putting pressure on the jaw joint. I'm only going by what I am being told but it all makes sense and I am seeing people with a track record of treating these kinds of complaints.
My point is that the medical profession will try and treat your ENT structures to solve an ENT problem. That isn't always the source. I'm not endorsing any methd of treatment (conventional or otherwise) but there can be more going on that you need to investigate for yourself when your doctors run out of ideas.
Warning though, every therapist, doctor etc. will tell you they can treat ear problems. But what they don't know is if they can treat YOUR ear problems.
Last edited by Hufty; 4th Dec 2007 at 09:46.